Method for manufacturing real aluminum using aluminum alloy capable of being applied to coil-to-uncoil process, and vehicle interior part

ABSTRACT

A method for manufacturing an aluminum alloy sheet may include melting aluminum alloy composition containing silicon (Si), iron (Fe), copper (Cu) and manganese (Mn) in weight% on the basis of remainder of aluminum (Al) to make cast alloy having a constant initial thickness; rolling the cast alloy to allow the initial thickness to be reduced, whereby the cast alloy is elongated to aluminum alloy sheet; and performing heat treatment on the aluminum alloy sheet.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No.10-2018-0169446, filed on Dec. 26, 2018, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing a realaluminum, and more particularly, to a vehicle interior part to which thereal aluminum is applied.

Description of Related Art

In general, in addition to formability and mechanical properties, analuminum sheet enables enhancement of aesthetic appearance and luxurysuch as surface texture or surface finishes. Therefore, even in avehicle field, the aluminum sheet is applied to an interior part forupgrading of aesthetic appearance in addition to appearance protection.

One example of the interior part is a door trim real aluminum garnishthat is made with an aluminum sheet material that is referred as “realaluminum” in the present disclosure. The real aluminum that is used formaking the door trim real aluminum garnish is manufactured by formingand machining an aluminum sheet to realize a pattern and a color on ametal surface.

However, the aluminum sheet having both formability and mechanicalproperties should be applied to the real aluminum, which makes itdifficult to commercialize the real aluminum due to a shortage of supplyin comparison with the demand. Particularly, the aluminum sheet suitablefor the real aluminum should be capable of achieving higher level ofthin thickness and formability, so that shortage of the amount of supplyof the aluminum sheet having such properties has been furtherexacerbated.

The contents described in Description of Related Art are to help theunderstanding of the background of the present disclosure, and mayinclude what is not previously known to those skilled in the art towhich the present disclosure pertains.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

One aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for manufacturinga real aluminum using an aluminum alloy which can be applied to acoil-to-uncoil process, in which an aluminum alloy has physicalproperties such as a thin thickness, formability and a strength, whichare suitable for manufacturing of a real aluminum to enable the realaluminum to be stably supplied according to the demand, and inparticular, after manufacturing the real aluminum using an aluminum coilof the aluminum alloy, the real aluminum is cut into a size of sheet, sothat high yield and cost reduction are achieved by a batch of processes,and a vehicle interior part.

The term “real aluminum” as used in the present disclosure refers to aproducts of aluminum metal that possesses patterns and colors on thesurface of aluminum for decoration.

The term “coil-to-uncoil process” as used the present disclosure refersto process of forming a real aluminum using roller. For instance, duringthe coil-to-uncoil process, a coil of an aluminum coil is uncoiled, theuncoiled sheet is subjected to surface treatment (e.g., patterning andcoloring) on the surface of thereof, and the processed sheet isrecoiled.

The term “cast alloy” as used the present disclosure refer to aluminumalloy by rolling and before step of heat-treating the aluminum alloysheet.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method for manufacturing analuminum alloy sheet may include preparing aluminum alloy compositioncontaining silicon (Si) of 0.5 wt% or less, iron (Fe) of 1.7 to 2.0 wt%,copper (Cu) of 0.5 wt% or less, manganese (Mn) of 2.0 to 6.0 wt%, andremainder of aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities, melting thealuminum alloy composition to make cast alloy, making an aluminum alloysheet having a constant thickness by rolling the cast alloy, andheat-treating the aluminum alloy sheet.

In heat-treating the aluminum alloy sheet, the aluminum alloy sheet maybe heat-treated at a temperature of 300 to 350° C. for 20 to 30 minutes.

In making the aluminum alloy sheet, the aluminum alloy sheet may berolled and formed to have a thickness 0.4 to 0.8 mm.

A further aspect of the invention provides a method for manufacturing ofan aluminum alloy sheet product using a coil-to-uncoil process accordingto the present disclosure may be characterized in that as an aluminumcoil is drawn out, an aluminum coil is sequentially transformed into apatterned coil having a pattern formed thereon by a rolling mill, acolored coil on which a first coating is performed by a vacuum coater,and a surfacing coil on which a second coating is performed by a spraycoater, and is then made into real aluminum sheet as aluminum alloysheet product.

Preferably, the aluminum coil may be an aluminum alloy containingsilicon (Si), iron (Fe), copper (Cu) and manganese (Mn) in weight% onthe basis of remainder of aluminum (Al). The aluminum alloy may bemelted to be made into cast alloy having a constant initial thickness,the cast alloy may be rolled to reduce the initial thickness and may bethen heat-treated to be made into aluminum alloy sheet, and the aluminumalloy sheet may be made into the aluminum coil.

The aluminum alloy composition may contain silicon (Si) of 0.5 wt% orless, iron (Fe) of 1.7 to 2.0 wt%, copper (Cu) of 0.5 wt% or less,manganese (Mn) of 2.0 to 6.0 wt%, and remainder of aluminum (Al) andinevitable impurities, and it is preferable that the aluminum alloysheet made from the composition is heat-treated at a temperature of 300to 350° C. for 20 to 30 minutes.

The pattern may be formed by rolling the aluminum coil with a pressureof 2500 to 4000 kg/cm² at a speed of 5 to 10 Hz.

Preferably, the first coating may impart color to a surface of thepattern. The color may be realized by a physical vapor deposition (PVD)coating layer which contains Ti and TiC and is formed on a surface ofthe aluminum alloy sheet in a PVD chamber under an inert gas atmosphere,a temperature of 70 to 120° C. and a pressure of 3.0×10⁻³ to 1.2×10⁻²Torr.

Preferably, the second coating may provide a protective coating on thecolored surface of the pattern.

The protective coating is a nano ceramic coating (NCC) which wet-coats anano ceramic paint including an inorganic binder and ceramic powders.

The wet coating may be performed by any one of gravure coating,microgravure coating, capillary coating and bar coating

Preferably, the aluminum alloy sheet product may be formed by cuttingthe surfacing coil using a press, and may be made into a door trimgarnish constituting a door trim.

In addition, in order to achieve the object, a vehicle interior partaccording to the present disclosure may be characterized in that analuminum coil made from aluminum alloy containing silicon (Si) of 0.5wt% or less, iron (Fe) of 1.7 to 2.0 wt%, copper (Cu) of 0.5 wt% orless, manganese (Mn) of 2.0 to 0.5 wt% on the basis of remainder ofaluminum (Al) passes sequentially through a rolling mill, a vacuumcoater, a spray coater and a press to be formed as a real aluminum sheethaving a pattern/color/texture, and the aluminum alloy sheet product ismade into a component constituting a door trim.

Preferably, the component may be a door trim garnish.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing an aluminum alloysheet prepared to have a thin-thickness/formability/a strength suitablefor manufacturing a real aluminum of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the results of a forming limit diagram (FLD)test of an aluminum alloy sheet before and after heat treatment for thealuminum alloy sheet of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D are photographs showing formability of thealuminum alloy sheet according to the present disclosure according tothe content of manganese (Mn).

FIGS. 4A and 4B are photographs showings surfaces of A8150 aluminumalloy sheet and the aluminum alloy sheet according to one embodiment ofthe present disclosure after performing rolling and hard-facingtreatment, respectively.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are photographs, taken by an optical microscope, showingthe surfaces of the A8150 aluminum alloy sheet and the aluminum alloysheet according to one embodiment of the present disclosure afterperforming the rolling and hard-facing treatment, respectively.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C are enlarged photographs of microstructure of A8014aluminum alloy sheet, A3055 aluminum alloy sheet, and A8150 alloy sheet,respectively.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are enlarged photographs of a microstructure of thealuminum alloy sheet manufactured according to one embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are photographs showing the results of detectionexperiment using the energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) for thealuminum alloy sheet according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a method for manufacturing a real aluminumusing an aluminum coil of the aluminum alloy sheet, which can be appliedto a coil-to-uncoil process, of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 shows one example of a process in which a real aluminum sheet ismade from the aluminum coil of the present disclosure by thecoil-to-uncoil process.

FIGS. 12A and 12B is photographs, one of which, taken by an opticalmicroscope, showing a surface of a patterned coil formed by rolling thealuminum coil according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, andthe other showing the result of measuring surface roughness thereof.

FIG. 13 is a photograph showing an edge portion observed when analuminum sheet is coated and formed by an anodizing method.

FIG. 14 is a photograph showing an edge portion observed when thealuminum coil is formed by an aluminum coil forming method disclosed inthe present disclosure.

FIGS. 15A and 15B shows the results of confirming scratch-resistance ofan aluminum sheet having an anodizing layer formed thereon by aanodizing method and the real aluminum sheet having a PVD coating layerand a protective coating layer formed thereon by the aluminum coilforming method disclosed in the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 shows an example of a vehicle interior part obtained bymanufacturing the real aluminum sheet from the aluminum coil of thealuminum alloy sheet of the present disclosure using the coil-to-uncoilprocess, and then forming the aluminum alloy sheet product.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a structure and operation of the present disclosure will bedescribed in more detail with reference to embodiments of the presentdisclosure and comparative examples. However, the below description ismerely some of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is notnecessarily limited to embodiments described herein.

Therefore, in order to develop the aluminum sheet suitable for the realaluminum, Al—Mn based alloys have been tried. However, elongation isonly about 25% even in the case of such an alloy, so that there is alimitation that it is difficult to secure a thin thickness andformability for the real aluminum.

Moreover, even though the aluminum sheet with sufficient requirementsfor manufacturing the real aluminum is used, an aluminum coil is cut toprepare the aluminum sheet having a desired size and the aluminum sheetshould be then transferred to a device for realizing a pattern and colorin the manufacturing process. Thus, the yield is very low and highprocess ratio is inevitably required.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing an aluminum alloysheet of the present disclosure, the present disclosure is characterizedby a method for manufacturing an aluminum alloy prepared to have athin-thickness/formability/a strength suitable for manufacturing a realaluminum which will be descried with reference to FIGS. 10 to 15 .

As illustrated in the drawing, the method for manufacturing the aluminumalloy sheet includes a step S110 of preparing aluminum alloycomposition, a step S120 of melting the aluminum alloy composition tomanufacture cast alloy having a constant initial thickness, a step S130of rolling the cast alloy to make aluminum alloy sheet having athickness less than the initial thickness, a step S140 of heat-treatingthe aluminum alloy sheet, and a step S150 of coiling the aluminum alloysheet to make an aluminum coil.

The step S110 of preparing the aluminum alloy composition is the step ofpreparing the aluminum alloy composition in which the content of thecomposition is optimized to improve a thin-thickness and formability,and it is preferable that this aluminum alloy composition containssilicon (Si) of 0.5 wt% or less, ferrum or iron (Fe) of 1.7 to 2.0 wt%,copper (Cu) of 0.5 wt% or less, manganese (Mn) of 2.0 to 6.0 wt%, andremainder of aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities.

When the content of silicon (Si) of 0.5 wt% or less is added in thealuminum alloy composition, the strength can be improved and corrosionresistance can be increased in a weak acid atmosphere. In addition,intermetallic compound containing silicon (Si) is also effective forincreasing hardness. However, when the content of silicon is added toomuch, there is a restriction on color implementation of an aluminumalloy sheet. In embodiment, the content of silicon (Si) in the aluminumalloy composition is 0.5 wt% or less.

In the aluminum alloy composition, iron (Fe) has a low equilibriumsolidification limit with respect to aluminum and is effective forincreasing the strength and surface hardness of the alloy, whilesuppressing a decrease in electric conductivity. Also, since an elasticmodulus of an Al—Fe based alloy is increased by about 2.5% per 1 wt% ofiron (Fe), iron is effective for improving the elongation of thealuminum alloy sheet. However, when iron is added too much,intermetallic compound may be formed, thereby lowering corrosionresistance in workability of the aluminum alloy. Therefore, it ispreferable to add iron within the above-mentioned range.

In the aluminum alloy composition, it is preferable that copper (Cu) of0.5 wt% or less is added for occurring solid solution hardening of thealuminum alloy and for easily managing the impurities.

In the aluminum alloy composition, manganese (Mn) is added for securingexcellent corrosion resistance of the aluminum alloy sheet. If manganeseof 2 wt% to 6 wt% is added, there is the effect that solid solutionstrengthening occurs or polygonal Al₆Mn intermetallic compound is formedon a surface, surface hardness of the aluminum alloy sheet is thusenhanced by dispersion strengthening.

In the step S120 of melting the aluminum alloy composition to make thecast alloy, in order to manufacture the aluminum alloy sheet, thealuminum alloy composition having the above-described content is meltedat a predetermined temperature, the cast alloy is thus manufactured.

Then, the step S130 of manufacturing the aluminum alloy sheet is thestep of rolling the cast alloy to a predetermined thickness to producethe aluminum alloy sheet. Here, the cast alloy is rolled to a thicknessof 0.4 to 0.8 mm to produce the aluminum alloy sheet. Of course, thethickness of the aluminum alloy sheet is not necessarily limited to theabove thickness and may be rolled to have an appropriate thickness.

The step S140 of heat-treating the aluminum alloy sheet is the step ofheat-treating the aluminum alloy sheet to a predetermined temperature inorder to improve elongation of the aluminum alloy sheet. The producedaluminum alloy sheet may be heat-treated at a temperature of 300 to 350°C. for 20 to 30 minutes, and more preferably, may be heat-treated at atemperature of 330° C. for 20 minutes.

The below Table 1 represents compositional contents of examples ofaluminum alloys and compositional content of the aluminum alloy of thepresent disclosure. Comparative Examples in Table 1 show the aluminumalloys of A8014 (Comparative Example 1) and A8150 (Comparative Example2) as the 8000-based aluminum alloy.

TABLE 1 Classification Si Fe Cu Mn Mg Zn Ti Al Comparative Example 1(A8014) 0.3 1.2~1.6 0.2 0.2~0.6 0.10 0.10 0.10 Remainder ComparativeExample 2 (A8150) 0.20 1.2~1.7 0.05 - - - - Remainder Example ~5.01.7~2.0 ~5.0 2.0~5.0 - - - Remainder

Mechanical properties, such as yield strength, ultimate tensilestrength, elongation and ultimate elongation (F-max), of the aluminumalloy sheet before heat treatment, which had the composition of thecontent of manganese (Mn) in the aluminum alloy composition according tothe present disclosure, were measured at a speed of 50 mm/min. accordingto criteria of ASTM D638, which is the standard measuring method. Inorder to verify the reproducibility of the data, the results derivedfrom five tests were reviewed, and the results are shown in Tables 2 andTable 3 below.

TABLE 2 Material Classification Orientation Yield strength (MPa)Ultimate tensile strength(MPa) Elongation (%) F-max El. (%) n-value Mn2.0 wt% 1 0° 56.81 102.22 22.21 43.12 0.186 2 0° 57.00 102.51 21.3440.08 0.191 3 0° 57.19 102.27 22.40 43.02 0.191 4 0° 56.81 102.17 2.6839.44 0.190 5 0° - - - - - Average 56.95 102.29 22.16 41.42 0.190 1 90°49.18 93.11 25.40 35.88 0.197 2 90° 48.51 93.33 24.28 29.48 0.194 3 90°47.44 93.28 24.93 31.28 0.197 4 90° 47.37 93.26 25.20 37.30 0.195 5 90°48.42 93.18 24.86 29.70 0.196 Average 48.18 93.23 24.93 32.73 0.196

TABLE 3 Material Classification Orientation Yield strength(MPa) Ultimatetensile strength(MPa) Elongation (%) F-max El. (%) n-value Mn 6.0 wt% 10° 42.61 84.57 26.11 47.89 0.212 2 0° 42.95 86.25 28.76 47.70 0.220 3 0°42.79 86.21 28.97 49.48 0.214 4 0° 42.7 86.16 26.16 47.54 0.211 5 0°42.66 86.18 27.81 46.61 0.212 Average 42.74 85.87 27.56 47.84 0.214 190° 42.67 84.06 27.67 46.24 0.211 2 90° 42.40 84.00 26.00 47.45 0.207 390° 42.64 82.59 28.70 48.26 0.202 4 90° 42.66 82.53 29.67 48.24 0.205 590° 42.47 83.95 26.59 45.92 0.211 Average 42.57 83.43 27.73 47.22 0.207

After heat-treating the aluminum alloy sheet in which the content ofmanganese (Mn) was adjusted to 6 wt%, ultimate tensile strength andelongation as the mechanical properties were measured. The results ofmeasurement are shown in Table 4 below. Here, “n-value” shown in Tableis a measurement value of a response of metal to cold working, and isusually referred to as the strain hardening exponent.

TABLE 4 Classification Ultimate tensile strength (MPa) Elongation (%) 193.22 40.896 2 93.82 49.49 3 95.15 46.433 4 79.93 45.229 5 93 47.274Average 91 45.9

As shown in Table 4, it could be confirmed that ultimate tensilestrength and elongation of the aluminum alloy sheet after heat treatmentwere improved compared with those before heat treatment.

In addition, as a result of confirming formability of the aluminum alloysheet, in which the content of manganese (Mn) was adjusted to 6 wt%,after and before heat treatment with the forming limit diagram (FLD)test as shown in FIG. 2 , it was confirmed that formability of thealuminum alloy sheet before the heat treatment was similar to that ofthe aluminum alloy sheet after the heat treatment. Accordingly, fromthese results, it could be seen that, through heat treatment, themechanical properties such as yield strength and elongation of thealuminum were improved, whereas formability was maintained.

In addition, FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D is photographs showing formabilityof the aluminum alloy sheet according to the content of manganese (Mn).

FIG. 3A shows the result of press-forming the aluminum alloy sheet inwhich the content of manganese (Mn) is 0.5 wt%, into a certain shape,FIG. 3B shows the result of press-forming the aluminum alloy sheet inwhich the content of manganese (Mn) is 1.5 wt%, into a certain shape,FIG. 3C shows the result of press-forming the aluminum alloy sheet inwhich the content of manganese (Mn) is 2.5 wt%, into a certain shape,and FIG. 3D shows the result of press-forming the aluminum alloy sheetin which the content of manganese (Mn) is 6.5 wt%, into a certain shape.

From the above results, it could be confirmed that, except only the casein which the content of manganese (Mn) was 2.5 wt% as shown in FIG. 3C,a damaged portion or wrinkling may be occurred in the remaining cases ofFIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3D.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 5A, and 5B are comparative diagrams and photographsshowings surfaces of A8150 aluminum alloy sheet and the aluminum alloyaccording to one embodiment of the present disclosure, respectively,after performing the rolling and hard-facing treatment. In this case,FIGS. 4A and 5A show A8150 aluminum alloy sheet, and FIGS. 4B and 5Bshow the aluminum alloy sheet according to the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 5A, average surface roughness (Ra) of theA8150 aluminum alloy sheet was 0.07 µm, and it could be confirmed that,as the surface hardness was lowered, marks of a rolling roll weregenerated after performing the rolling and hard-facing treatment. On theother hand, as shown in FIG. 4B and FIG. 5B, as a result, unlike theA8150 aluminum alloy sheet, the aluminum alloy sheet of the presentdisclosure had average surface roughness Ra of 0.02 µm and the surfacehardness was improved by addition of iron (Fe), so that it was confirmedthat surface quality was good even after performing the same rolling andhard-facing treatment.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C, 7A, and 7B are comparative diagrams and photographsshowings microstructures of surfaces of the aluminum alloy sheets ofA8014 (FIG. 6A), A3055 (FIG. 6B) and A8150 (FIG. 6C) and of a surface ofthe aluminum alloy sheet (FIGS. 7A and 7B) according to one embodimentof the present disclosure.

It was confirmed that, as compared with the aluminum alloy sheets ofA8014, A3055 and A8150 as shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C, a size ofcrystal grain of the aluminum alloy sheet of the present disclosureshown in FIGS. 7A and 7B was very small and smaller than that of thealuminum alloy sheets of A8014, A3055 and A8150. In this case, FIGS. 7Aand 7B represent a plane surface and a side face of the aluminum alloysheet, respectively.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are photographs showing the results of detection of energydispersion for the aluminum alloy sheet according to one embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

As shown in the drawings, it can be confirmed that polygonal Al—Fe—Mnintermetallic compounds with a micro size of several µm are uniformlydistributed in the aluminum alloy sheet of the present disclosure.

Here, the results of detection of energy dispersion are obtained by theenergy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). In the energy dispersivespectroscopy, an electron beam generated from an electron gun of anelectron microscope are scanned on a surface of specimen, and varioussignals are generated by interaction between an electron and an atom ofthe specimen, and at this time, an x-ray signal, that analyzes chemicalcomponents, of various signals generated as above is detected by anenergy or wavelength detector to analyze the chemical componentscontained in the specimen.

As shown in Table 5, the aluminum alloy sheet of the present disclosureproves an example in which the surface quality is improved when therolling and hard-facing treatment is performed, due to the effect ofuniformly distributed fine crystal grains which cause the improvedsurface hardness.

TABLE 5 Classification Weight % Atomic % Al 50.92 67.07 Si 0.46 0.58 Mn2.44 1.58 Fe 45.32 28.84 O 0.87 1.93 Total 100.00 100.00

In particular, Table 5 specifically shows component of Al—Fe—Mnintermetallic compound of the present disclosure to which iron is added,in which a roll mark occurring phenomenon on a material of 8000 seriesafter performing the rolling and hard-facing treatment can be minimizedor avoided. The surface hardness of the material of 8000 series islowered, through the polygonal crystal grains which have a size ofseveral µm and are uniformly distributed as shown in FIG. 8 to cause anenhancement of the surface hardness.

On the other hand, FIGS. 10 to 16 illustrate a series of continuousprocesses in which the aluminum coil is made from the aluminum alloysheet, as previously described, of the present disclosure in the step150 in FIG. 1 , the real aluminum sheet having excellent internalstructure is manufactured by directly using the aluminum coil in acoil-to-uncoil process, and a real aluminum sheet is then made andformed into a vehicle interior part such as a door trim garnish.

Referring to FIG. 10 , a method for manufacturing the aluminum alloysheet product using the aluminum alloy sheet which can be applied to thecoil-to-uncoil process includes a preparing process of S210, apatterning process of S220, a color-coating process of S230, a surfacecoating process S240, a cutting process of S250 and a product-makingprocess of S2620.

Specifically, the preparing process S210, the patterning process S220,the color-coating process S230, the surface coating process S240, thecutting process S250 and the product-making process S260 are describedwith reference to FIG. 11 as below.

As one example, the preparing step S210 is performed by setting thealuminum coil as in S211, setting a rolling mill as in S212, setting avacuum coater as in S213, setting a spray coater as in S214, and settinga press as in S15. Therefore, the preparing process S210 means that thealuminum coil 1 as raw material used for manufacturing the real aluminumis prepared, and a rolling mill 3 performing the coil-to-uncoil process,a vacuum coater 5, a spray coater 7 and a press 9 are ready for driving.Particularly, devices for blanking/piercing/injection to be used in theproduct-making process S260 may also be set in the preparing processS210.

In this case, the aluminum coil 1 is the aluminum alloy sheet which ismanufactured by the method for manufacturing the aluminum alloy sheetshown in FIG. 1 , contains silicon (Si) of 0.5 wt% or less, iron (Fe) of1.7 to 2.0 wt%, copper (Cu) of 0.5 wt% or less, manganese (Mn) of 2.0 to5.0 wt% and remainder of aluminum (Al) and inevitable impurities, isheat-treated and has a coil shape to be capable of continuouslysupplied.

As one example, in the patterning step S220, the rolling mill 3 to whichthe aluminum coil 1 is connected is operated as in S221 and as in S222,a three-dimensional pattern roller 3-1 is operated to allow athree-dimensional design (or shape) of the roller is formed on thealuminum coil 1 while the aluminum coil passes though the rolling mill3. Particularly, the three-dimensional pattern roller 3-1 rolls thealuminum coil with a pressure of 2500 to 4000 kg/cm² at a speed of 5 to10 Hz to form a three-dimensional pattern.

Further, various kinds of three-dimensional pattern designs (or shapes)may be applied by changing the kind of three-dimensional pattern roller3-1, if necessary.

As a result, in the patterning step S220, the aluminum coil 1 passingthrough the rolling mill 3 is transformed into a patterned coil 1-1having a three-dimensional pattern is made from as in S223.

FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrates the patterned coil 1-1 having athree-dimensional pattern formed by rolling the aluminum coil 1 having athickness of 0.6 mm at a rolling speed of 8 Hz and a pressure of 3,500kg/cm².

As one example, in the color-coating process S230, the vacuum coater 5to which the patterned coil 1-1 exiting the rolling mill 3 is connectedis operated as in S231, and a vacuum chamber 5-1 is operated to form aPVD coating layer and impart the color on a surface of the patternedcoil 1-1 during coiling/uncoiling process in which the patterned coil1-1 is coiled and uncoiled by a pair of roller in the vacuum chamber 5-1as in S232.

In this case, the vacuum chamber 5-1 is a PVD chamber for forming thePVD (physical vapor deposition) coating layer on the surface of thepatterned coil 1-1 to impart the color, and in the PVD chamber under aninert gas atmosphere, the PVD coating layer containing Ti and TiC isformed on the surface of the patterned coil 1-1 under the conditions ofa temperature of 70 to 120° C. and a pressure of 3.0×10⁻³ to 1.2×10⁻²Torr, so that the color is realized on a surface of the patterned coil.

As a result, in the color-coating process S230, the patterned coil 1-1is transformed into a colored coil 1-2, as in S233, through a firstcoating process. In this case, a process in which the aluminum coil 1passes through the three-dimensional pattern roller 3-1 of the rollingmill 3 and is transformed into the patterned coil 1-1 is continued.

FIG. 13 shows an example in which an electrochemical film forming methodcalled the anodizing which realizes the color for improving a texture ofmetal, and shows that when the aluminum alloy sheet to which thisanodizing method is applied is formed to have a desired shape in asubsequent process, a crack of an anodizing layer is generated in anedge portion of the pattern.

On the other hand, FIG. 14 shows the PVD coating layer on which thecolored is imparted by the PVD method as in the present disclosure, andshows that no crack is generated in the PVD coating layer even afterforming the flexible metal coating layer with the press.

As one example, in the surface coating process S240, the spray coater 7to which the colored coil 1-2 exiting the vacuum coater 5 is connectedis operated as in S241, and a wet spray injector 7-1 is operated as inS242 to form a nano ceramic coating (NCC) layer on a surface of thecolored coil 1-2 during an uncoiling process in which the colored coilis uncoiled by the roller.

In this case, the spray coater 7 employs an NCC method and coats a nanoceramic paint, including an inorganic binder and ceramic powders, on thesurface of the colored coil 1-2, which is colored with the PVD coatinglayer, by a wet coating method to form a protective coating layer. Anyone selected from a gravure coating, a microgravure coating, a capillarycoating and a bar coating may be used as the above wet coating method,and the present disclosure is not necessarily limited thereto.

As a result, in the surface coating step S240, the colored coil 1-2 istransformed into a surfacing coil 1-3 by a second coating process as inS243. In this case, the process in which the aluminum coil 1 istransformed into the patterned coil 1-1 while passing through thethree-dimensional pattern roller 3-1 of the rolling mill 3, and thepatterned coil is transformed into the colored coil 1-2 while passingthrough the vacuum chamber 5-1 of the vacuum coater 5 is continued.

As one example, in the cutting process S250, the press 9 through whichthe surface coil 1-3 exiting the spray coater 7 passes is operated as inS251, and a punch 9-1 is operated as in S252 to cut the surfacing coil1-3 to have a predetermined sheet size.

As a result, in the cutting step S250, a real aluminum sheet 10 is madefrom the surfacing coil 1-3 as in 253. In this case, the process inwhich the aluminum coil 1 is transformed into the patterned coil 1-1while passing through the three-dimensional pattern roller 3-1 of therolling mill 3, the patterned coil is transformed into the colored coil1-2 while passing through the vacuum chamber 5-1 of the vacuum coater 5,and the colored coil is transformed into the surfacing coil 1-3 whilepassing through the wet spray injector 7-1 of the spray coater 7 iscontinued.

FIGS. 15A and 15B shows the results of scratch-resistance test for thereal aluminum sheet 10.

FIG. 15A shows that a noticeable scratch mark is formed on the anodizinglayer of the aluminum sheet, whereas FIG. 15B shows that a light markthat is formed on the PVD coating layer and the protective coating layerof the real aluminum sheet 10.

In this case, the scratch resistance test may be performed by scrapingthe surface of the sheet with a scratch-resistant scratcher having apointed tip.

As one example, in the product-making process S260, a blanking of S261,a piercing of S262, and an injection of S263 are applied to the realaluminum sheet 10, so that a vehicle internal part is made from the realaluminum sheet 10 as in S264.

FIG. 16 shows an example in which a door trim garnish 100 applied to adoor trim 100-1 constituting a door is made from the real aluminum sheet10.

As described above, the aluminum coil 1 of the aluminum alloy sheetaccording to the present disclosure can improve the surface hardness ofthe sheet even after rolling to manufacture the real aluminum sheethaving high quality and high formability, In addition, the method ofmanufacturing the real aluminum sheet disclosed in the presentdisclosure has the effect that Since a pattern production, colorimplementation and a surface process are performed in a continuousprocess by the coil-to-uncoil method using the shape of the aluminumcoil 1, it is possible to form the real aluminum sheet 10 more easilyand quickly than other surface treatment methods such as a screenprinting or an anodizing, and physical properties such as the glossdegree, scratch resistance, and the like are excellent.

The real aluminum sheet 10 provided in the present disclosure and havingthe above characteristics can be widely applied to various fields suchas the sheet for vehicle interior part, the exterior sheet, thepackaging material, and the like.

In the real aluminum manufacturing method of the present disclosure,since the real aluminum is manufactured by using the aluminum coil ofthe aluminum alloy sheet having a thin-thickness, formability and astrength and is then cut to have a sheet size, It is possible to batchthe coil-to-uncoil process which can achieve high yield and costreduction. Especially, physical properties of the aluminum alloy sheetsuitable for the real aluminum are realized by optimization of thecontents of silicon (Si), iron (Fe), copper (Cu) and manganese (Mn) andheat treatment, so that it is possible to overcome limitation oftechnical difficulties.

In addition, the aluminum alloy sheet manufactured according to themethod for manufacturing the aluminum alloy sheet, which has improvedformability, for a vehicle interior part according to the presentdisclosure has an effect that deepness and surface roughness areenhanced by 30 times or more due to a step difference in pattern ascompared with the A8150 aluminum material.

In addition, the method of forming the aluminum alloy sheet of thepresent disclosure is suitable for realizing a metal texture in terms oflight resistance and scratch resistance as compared with the anodizingmethod, and since a crack does not occur in the edge portion duringpress forming, there is an improved effect as compared with the existingforming process.

Although the present disclosure has been described with a focus on novelfeatures of the present disclosure applied to various embodiments, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that various deletions,substitutions, and changes in the form and details of the apparatus andmethod described above may be made without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosureis defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription. All modifications within the equivalent scope of theappended claims are embraced within the scope of the present disclosure.

1-16. (canceled)
 17. A vehicle interior part comprising: an aluminumalloy sheet of an aluminum alloy containing silicon (Si) of 0.5 wt¾ orless, iron (Fe) of 1.7 to 2.0 wt¾, copper (Cu) of 0.5 wt¾ or less,manganese (Mn) of 2.0 to 5.0 wt¾ on the basis of remainder of aluminum(Al), the aluminum alloy sheet comprises a patterned surface; a colorcoating layer formed over the patterned surface; and a protectivecoating layer formed of a non-metallic material over the color coatinglayer.
 18. The vehicle interior part of claim 17, wherein the vehicleinterior part comprises a door trim garnish.